Diogo Fernandes Pereira

Diogo Fernandes Pereira
Born	15th century Setúbal, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	16th century Unknown
Nationality	Portuguese
Occupation	Explorer, navigator
Known for	First European to visit the island of Socotra in 1503 and the discoverer of the Mascarenes archipelago. First European to sail east of Madagascar island ('outer route' to the East Indies)

Diogo Fernandes Pereira, sometimes called simply Diogo Fernandes, was a Portuguese 16th-century navigator, originally from Setúbal, Portugal. Diogo Fernandes was the first known European captain to visit the island of Socotra in 1503 and the discoverer of the Mascarenes archipelago (Réunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues) in 1507. He may also have been the first European to sail east of Madagascar island ('outer route' to the East Indies).

Diogo Fernandes Pereira's name is usually given simply as 'Diogo Fernandes'. He is sometimes referred to as Diogo Fernandes de Setúbal (his hometown), to distinguish him from another Indian Ocean adventurer of that period with a similar name, known as Diogo Fernandes de Beja. In older chronicles, (e.g. Damião de Góis) his name is also written as Diogo Fernandes 'Piteira' or 'Peteira'.

Diogo Fernandes was a Portuguese seaman of obscure background. According to João de Barros, he was "a native of Setúbal, a man much used at sea" (muito usado no mar). He served as master on several ships - that is, as third officer, below the pilot and captain, a position which required trained navigational expertise, and may have served as pilot on other occasions.

In 1503, Diogo Fernandes Pereira was appointed master and captain (a very unusual combination) of a Setúbal ship bound for India. How a master was elevated to captain of an India nau (usually a position reserved for nobles or wealthy men who 'paid' for the privilege) is uncertain. One possible conjecture is that the ship was not a crown ship, but a privately outfitted ship.

In some secondary accounts, it is said that Diogo Fernandes's ship was named Setúbal. That is almost certainly incorrect. Known lists for the armada and the chronicles do not actually give his ship a name, but just call it "the ship from/of Setúbal", a strong suggestion that it might have been privately outfitted by the merchant community of the city of Setúbal. If so, that might better explain how Diogo Fernandes got to be captain - the merchants of Setúbal just naturally chose to entrust their capital in their most knowledgeable and experienced native son.

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